October 3, 1955: Life publishes Frank McMahon’s illustrations from the trial of Emmett Till’s murderers. Often considered the full igniting spark of the civil rights movement, Till’s lynching continues to provoke conversations surrounding race relations in the United States toda...
The time around the turn of the 20th century was filled with cultural, social, and technological change. During this period, new technology directed production to large-scale manufacturing. Seeking to self promote, manufacturers branded their products, naturally leading to a need for sales promot...
“Jell-O, America’s favorite dessert.” As famously advertised in Ladies’ Home Journal and other women’s magazines as early as 1902, Jell-O was a household favorite in the United States for almost a century. Today, Jell-O is most widely known as a childhood dessert or an alcoholic concoction;...
By the middle of the twentieth century, the notion of American periodical publications aimed at a younger readership was already well established. Early versions of children’s magazines appeared in the States as early as the late 1700s, and by the time Humpty Dumpty was launched by Parent’s Magaz...
In the 1930’s Collier’s magazine represented a popular, progressive viewpoint on American culture. The magazine published articles by Winston Churchill on the significance of the U.S. constitution in the 20th century, as well as profiles skeptical of the rise of the Nazi party in Germany under Hi...
In the early twentieth century, the covers of the large publications were beautifully illustrated, and many artists who contributed became household names. The art created for fashion magazines in particular stands out. What had started out as representational drawings of clothing and models morp...
This semester, students from D. B. Dowd’s course, Special Topics in Visual Culture: The Illustrated Periodical, visited the Dowd Modern Graphic History Library to engage with a variety of materials from various collections. Throughout the semester, the materials were used in lectures and di...
As a student worker for the MGHL, I have been cataloging magazine tear sheet illustrations from the Walt Reed Illustration Archive in Shared Shelf, a project funded by the CLIR Grant. The collection I’m currently working on features many illustrations by Frank Craig — made between 1874 and ...
Esquire Magazine’s Christmas issue, published in December 1943, contains a wide variety of articles (everything from political to camp) interspersed with foldout pinups by Vargas in addition to numerous photography pieces and advertisements. One of the political pieces in this issue are the...
“I could praise the work for pages, but it might sound like a love letter.” J.W. Jemmings, letter to Al Parker, July 24, 1939. Imagine a magazine illustrator getting fan mail. Al Parker (1906-1985) was once one of the leading magazine illustrators in America. Born in St. Louis, Missou...
